Morrissey has blamed the royal family for the suspected suicide of Jacintha Saldanha. The singer accused the royals of "staggering arrogance" following the death of Saldanha, a nurse who was tricked by two Australian DJs into revealing details of the Duchess of Cambridge's pregnancy.

"It wasn't because of two DJs in Australia that this woman took her own life, it was the pressure around her," Morrissey told New Zealand's 3News. While much of this stress can be blamed on the press, he said, or the "maximum pressure [of] … the Palace and Clarence House," he called on the duchess to take direct responsibility.

"[She] was in the hospital, as far as I could see, for absolutely no reason," the singer said. "She feels no shame about the death of this woman, she's saying nothing about the death of this poor woman. The arrogance of the British royals is absolutely staggering."

Morrissey has even accused Kate Middleton of being in hospital for spurious reasons, despite doctors diagnosing her with the serious complaint known as hyperemesis gravidarum. "Does she have a health condition?" the singer asked. "Is it anorexia or is it pregnancy? … I mean morning sickness already? So much hoo haw and then suddenly as bright as a button as soon as this poor woman dies she's out of hospital? It doesn't ring true."

This is in stark contrast to the medical evidence, which views hyperemesis gravidarum as a serious medical condition with symptoms that include 24-hour periods of vomiting and dehydration. Hospitalisation is a common consequence for those who suffer from it.

Buckingham Palace must receive "thousands" of prank calls every day, the 53-year-old said. Blaming the incident on the DJs, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, "is just a way of distracting people". "The fact they got so far probably astonished them beyond belief. But the pressure put on the woman who connected the callers was probably so enormous that she took her own life … And we forget about that and of course the royals are exonerated as always."

Greig and Christian have both apologised for their prank call, as has their employer, 2DayFM. According to the Associated Press, executives at the radio station could face criminal charges for airing the conversation without its participants' consent.

• This article was amended on 12 December 2012 to add a paragraph clarifying that the Duchess of Cambridge's condition is not simply "morning sickness" as it was described by Morrissey